Becoming a Courageous Husband

This week I will continue the series, “Becoming a Courageous Family.”  Sunday we will explore what it means to be a courageous husband.  Early in my ministry I avoided preaching on marriage and family topics because I felt I was “the blind leading the blind.”  I was almost clueless on what it meant to be a husband.  My father was the typical 1950’s father working to bring home the bacon while my mother put it away, cooked it, and cleaned up after we ate it.  On special occasions, my father’s big gift gesture to my mom was to give her the biggest card he could find with money enclosed along with a box of candy for him to eat.  I never really saw my parents deal with conflicts, although I know there were some.  Therefore, when Dianne and I got married, my brain defaulted to what I had seen for 20 years.  One problem: much had changed in 20 years concerning the roles of husbands and wives, especially women’s issues.

Dianne and I were married and within a week, we packed her stuff to move to Houston for me to finish my senior year of college.  She had to work full time because my part-time job and school work couldn’t feed us.  Understanding this temporary situation, she entered into it gladly.  Both of us, seasoned by our fifty’s upbringing, began to play house as we had seen.  Problems began to arise when Dianne, after working all day, had to come home and assume the cooking and other household chores while I sat on the couch watching TV.  That is what my dad did.  Stress began to rise as this new husband seemed to be uncaring and insensitive to my new wife’s needs.  I began to understand that when a woman is asked, “What’s wrong?” and she replies “nothing” in a sharp, cutting tone, it really means there is a lot wrong.  Obviously, we have worked through those issues as well as others.  The journey of marriage from expectations to reality can be a difficult one.  Life does not follow story lines. Yet, with Christ as the center of our lives, God will make all things work for His good.

Husbands, I want to help you this week to be a godly husband. I will share some stories of my journey to becoming the husband God desires for us all to be.  Wives, your turn will come next week.  In some ways, I wish I could start again knowing what I know now.  Although I cannot, I can share 34 years of a journey God has used to make me the husband, father, and man he intended me to be the day I was born.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Jeff